At the time of writing the work (1847), Dostoevsky noted the dreamer-man as a remarkable social phenomenon. In the St. Petersburg Gazette, he describes the dreamer as a type of person completely in tune with the city, which, especially during the summer period, seems to encourage alienation from reality. The atmosphere in "White Nights" is poetic and deeply moving. It is a hymn to youth, spring, love, and their power to transform mundane reality.